Finally! Amtrak passenger train service set to run from NOLA to South MS and Mobile
Amtrak trains will return to South Mississippi after an agreement was announced Tuesday that will allow passenger and freight trains to share the tracks along the Gulf Coast corridor from Mobile to New Orleans.
The statement said notice was filed with the Surface Transportation Board indicating that Amtrak, the freight operators and Alabama State Port Authority have reached an agreement. The parties requested the case to be held in abeyance while completing the conditions identified within the settlement agreement, according to a press release.
This agreement will allow the return of Amtrak passenger trains that hasn’t operated on the Coast since before Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“This settlement indicates a bright future for passenger rail service not only along the Gulf Coast, but throughout the southern United States.,” Southern Rail Commission said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “Collaboration and effective negotiations between passenger rail providers, the freight rail industry, and our local, state and federal government agencies proves that there is a path forward for re-establishing and expanding passenger rail service.”
Knox Ross, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, said the commission will continue to build on this momentum by working with all parties — especially the communities who have been waiting so long for passenger rail.
Service was expected to begin in January before opposition from the freight train operators and the Alabama Port caused delays.
The trains could begin operating next year, with stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. The proposed schedule calls for two trains each way, each day.
Stations at Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Pascagoula are sharing $700,000 in improvements thanks to a grant from Southern Rail Commission. The Biloxi stop would be adjacent to the Biloxi Transit Center.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 1:34 PM.
